Kamal Haasan’s Vishwaroopam 2 will release on August 10, five years after the successful first part, which became one of the top 5 grossing Tamil films of all time. Kamal reprises his role as RAW Agent Major Wisam Ahmad Kashmiri, while Rahul Bose returns as the antagonist – Al-Qaeda terrorist Omar Qureshi. While Vishwaroopam was set in the USA, where Wisam and his team eliminated ‘sleeper cells’, a majority of the sequel will unfold in India and New York. Kamal is not only the film’s director and producer, but is also credited with having written its Tamil dialogues (Vishwaroopam 2 will also release in Hindi and Telugu). Here’s everything we know about the movie, curated from interviews with Kamal, composer Ghibran and editor Mahesh Narayanan:

1. I Wanted To Go A Little Beyond What You See In A Ludlum Novel: Kamal Haasan

Kamal Haasan talks about Vishwaroopam 2, and why the action genre doesn’t form a big part of his over 200 films, other than the odd Vikram, Kurudhipunal, Thoonga Vanam, Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu, Aalavandhan and now the Vishwaroopam films. He speaks about being a star and actor (vis a vis someone like Naseeruddin Shah). Her speaks of Waheeda Rahman’s role in Vishwaroopam 2. He speaks about the many career transitions in his life, and how Bigg Boss has taken him back to the masses, the way Sakalakalavallan did.

Watch the full interview here:

2. Pooja Kumar: Kamal Haasan Has Blended Indian Sentiment With A Modern Take

Pooja Kumar, who is in Vishwaroopam 2, talks about the experience of acting opposite writer-director and star Kamal Haasan, and how she learnt to look at her character as part of the whole movie. She talks about being from a Hindi-speaking family and learning Tamil, and auditioning for Kamal over Skype. She also speaks about her favourite Kamal films: Ek Duuje Ke Liye, Swathi Muthyam, Mahanadhi, Saagar, Hey Ram.

Watch the full interview here:

3. Vishwaroopam 2 Composer Ghibran On Tough Times And Learning Lessons On Discipline From Kamal Haasan

After a battle with depression and obesity in the years following his debut venture, Vaagai Sooda Vaa, composer Ghibran credits music with helping him achieve a state of zen. “I still remember the thrill of meeting Kamal Haasan for the first time. I got an opportunity to work with him when I had almost considering quitting cinema. You can classify my career ‘before Kamal Haasan and after Kamal Haasan,” he says.

Mahesh Narayanan is one of the most popular editors in Malayalam cinema, who has worked on a wide variety of films ranging from Traffic, Beautiful, Kanyaka Talkies, Pokkiri Raja, Ennu Ninte Moideen to Vishwaroopam. The writer-director-editor talks about why the film has a flavour that will appeal to all Kamal Haasan fans, what its action sequences entail and where portions have been shot abroad.

Watch the full interview here:

5. Kamal Haasan On Doing His Own Stunts For Vishwaroopam 2 And Being Embarrassed By His Older Films

The thespian talks about being a mainstream mass hero and still taking up a controversial film dealing with the Al-Qaeda, how he managed to perform his own stunts at the age of 63 and why he decided to split Vishwaroopam into two parts – “It was quite a daring decision to release it as a two-part film; it was a decision of passion. Barrie Osborne similarly had the guts to make The Lord of the Rings as a three-part film, in the hope that the first part would succeed,” he says.

The release of the first film faced roadblocks in Tamil Nadu in 2013, with Kamal saying he would consider leaving India if he continued to face political pressure. Now, the actor says becoming a politician has made him confident enough to deal with any issues arising over the second part. He also told us that Vishwaroopam 2’s worldwide release would be grand and on par with a Hollywood blockbuster.

Vishwaroopam is a 2013 Indian action spy thriller film written, directed and co-produced by Kamal Haasan, who also enacts the lead role. Baradwaj Rangan breaks down the composition, patterns, themes, musical cues and ‘Kamal-isms’ in the first film. He also decodes how the movie respects the audience’s intelligence while feeding them interesting bits of trivia.

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